Method and Apparatus for Tracing Attack Source of Abnormal Network Traffic

ABSTRACT

The present invention provides a method and an apparatus for tracing an attack source in the case of an abnormal network traffic, where said method comprises: from the network node(s) of an attack link, any or multiple said network nodes are selected as a tracing start point(s) and there into, said attack link is a communication link between an attacked target and an attack source. According to said tracing start point(s), a higher-level network node of said attack link is identified stepwise until a final attack source is confirmed. By adopting said technical solution provided by the present invention, the problems that the network security mechanisms in related technologies can only alleviate a network attack rather than position an attack source are solved, thus an effect can be achieved to trace and position the attack source in a reverse direction.

CROSS REFERENCE OF RELATED APPLICATION

This is a U.S. National Stage under 35 U.S.C. 371 of the InternationalApplication PCT/CN2012/085039, filed Nov. 22, 2012, which claimspriority under 35 U.S.C. 119(a-d) to CN 201110402733.4, filed Dec. 7,2011.

BACKGROUND OF THE PRESENT INVENTION

1. Field of Invention

The present invention relates to the field of network communication,specifically, to a method and apparatus for tracing attack source in thecase of abnormal network traffic.

2. Description of Related Arts

At present, the network-based attacks mostly take advantage of thelimits of network resources and system resources or the imperfection ofnetwork protocols and authentication mechanisms themselves to launch alarge-scale network attack in short time in order to consume thespecific resources and attack the targets. The existing network securitymechanisms including the intrusion detection system (IDS), firewall andvirtual private network (VPN) as well as attack-tolerant techniquesmerely defense passively upon a network attack: for example, setting upa protection algorithms such as Random Drop, SYN Cookie, bandwidthrestriction, or realizing linkage between IDS and firewall as well asanalyzing attacks by technical experts, etc.

Most of the network security mechanisms as above work little. They canmerely alleviate the network attacks rather than position the source ofattack (that is, attack source). Thus, the network-based attacks havebecome a serious obstacle to current network information system.Moreover, the virtual nature of network itself causes very bigdifficulty upon enforcing laws.

As for the problems of related techniques as above, no effectivesolution has been put forward yet.

SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION

Aiming at the problems of related techniques as above, the main purposeof the present invention is to provide a method and an apparatus fortracing the attack source in the case of abnormal network traffic inorder to solve at least the problems as above.

In order to realize the purpose as above, according to one aspect of thepresent invention, a method for tracing an attack source in the case ofabnormal network traffic is provided. It comprises: from the networknode(s) of an attack link, any or multiple said network nodes areselected as a tracing start point(s) and there into, said attack link isa communication link between an attacked target and an attack source;and according to said tracing start point(s), a higher-level networknode of said attack link is identified stepwise until a final attacksource is confirmed.

In order to realize the purpose as above, according to another aspect ofthe present invention, an apparatus for tracing an attack source in thecase of abnormal network traffic is provided. It comprises: a selectionmodule used to select any or multiple said network nodes from thenetwork node(s) of attack network as a tracing start point(s), wheresaid attack link is a communication link between an attacked target andan attack source. A determination module used to identify stepwise ahigher-level network node(s) of said attack network according to saidtracing start point(s) until a final attack source is confirmed.

Through the present invention, the technical means is employed to selectany network node(s) in an attack link as a tracing start point(s) toidentify stepwise a higher-level network node. Thus, the problems thatthe network security mechanisms in related techniques can only alleviatethe network attack rather than position the source of attack are solved.Therefore, an effect of tracing and positioning the attack source in areverse direction is achieved.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of according to a preferred embodiment ofthe present invention.

The drawings constituting one part of the present application are usedto provide further understanding on the present invention. Nevertheless,the schematic embodiments and their descriptions according to thepresent invention are merely used to explain the present invention anddo not constitute any inappropriate limitation on the present invention.In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of the method for tracing the attacksource of abnormal network traffic in the embodiments according to thepresent invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the apparatus for tracing the attacksource of abnormal network traffic in the embodiments according to thepresent invention.

FIG. 3 is a structural schematic diagram showing the apparatus fortracing the attack source of abnormal network traffic in the embodimentsaccording to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of tracing backward the attack flow in theembodiments according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of tracing Level-1 source flow in theembodiments according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of tracing Level-2 source flow in theembodiments according to the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of tracing Level-3 source flow in theembodiments according to the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

It is necessary to note that the embodiments and the features there intocan be combined mutually if no conflict will be brought out.

Below, the present invention is described in detail with reference tothe drawings and the embodiments.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of the method for tracing the attacksource of abnormal network traffic in the embodiments according to thepresent invention. As shown in FIG. 1, this method comprises:

Step S102: from the network node(s) of an attack link, any or multiplesaid network nodes are selected as a tracing start point(s), where saidattack link is a communication link between an attacked target and anattack source;

Step S104: according to said a tracing start point(s), a higher-levelnetwork node of said attack link is identified stepwise until a finalattack source is confirmed.

Through the processes as above, the technical means is employed toidentify stepwise the higher-level network node(s) in said attack linkuntil the attack source(s) is confirmed finally according to the tracingstart point(s). Thus, the attack source can be traced and positionedbackward and the enforcement of laws on network security can beimproved.

In Step S102, any or multiple network nodes can be selected as a tracingstart point(s) and also a network node(s) can be selected as a tracingstart point(s) according to a preset condition(s). For example: the datapacket payload via the port(s) of network node(s) in said attack link iscollected according to a preset period; said tracing start point(s) isdetermined according to the data packet payload collected currently andthat collected in last said preset period.

In one preferred embodiment according to the present invention, saiddata packet payload is the average for each data packet payload in saidpreset period. Hereinto, this average for each data packet payload in apreset period can be determined through below method: Average for eachdata packet payload in a preset period=Average bandwidth in a presetperiod/Total quantity of data packet in a preset period.

In one preferred embodiment according to the present invention, in thecase of multiple said higher-level network nodes, the steps ofprocessing as follows can also be included: the multiple higher-levelnetwork nodes are discriminated according to the matching degree withsaid attack link, wherein said matching degree is used to indicate thelevel of similarity between said average for each data packet payloadvia a tracing start point(s) in a preset period and the averages foreach data packet payload via multiple said higher-level network nodes ina preset period.

During the specific implementation, determination of said tracing startpoint(s) according to the data packet payload collected currently andthat collected in last said preset period can be realized through theprocesses as follows: a fingerprint of the flow via the port(s) of saidnetwork node(s) of an attack link is determined according to the datapacket payload collected currently and that collected in last saidpreset period, wherein said flow fingerprint is calculated with theformula as follows: Flow fingerprint =[1−(▴P/▴BP) ]×100%, ▴P=P0−(P-1) ,▴BP=BP0−(BP-1) , where: P0 indicates current data; (P-1) indicates thedata in last period of current preset period; BP0 indicates the data atsame moment yesterday; (BP=1) indicates the data yesterday in lastperiod of current preset period; in the case that said flow fingerprintdoesn't reach a preset threshold value, the network node(s)corresponding to said flow fingerprint can be used as a tracing startpoint (s).

In Step S104, that is, the determination of the higher-level networknode(s) of said attack link according to said tracing start point(s),can comprise the processes as follows: acquisition of the increment ofincoming flow to said tracing start point (s) and the increment ofoutgoing flow from said higher-level network node(s), wherein saidincrement of incoming flow is the increased flow in the case that thenetwork traffic received by said tracing starting point(s) is abnormalcompared to normal network traffic. Said increment of outgoing flow isthe increased network flow in the case that the network traffictransmitted from said higher-level network node(s) is abnormal comparedto normal network traffic. Determination of said higher-level node as anew tracing start point according to the ratio between said increment ofincoming traffic and said increment of outgoing traffic; identificationstepwise of a higher-level network node of said new tracing start pointin said attack network according to said new tracing start point.

In Step S104, the final attack source(s) can be identified through thefollowing method: when the quantity of higher-level network node(s) is0, the network node(s) in the next level lower to said higher-levelnetwork node(s) will be determined as the final attack source(s).

In this embodiment, an apparatus for tracing attack source in the caseof abnormal network traffic is also provided. This apparatus is used toimplement the embodiments and the preferred embodiments as above. Whatalready described will not be introduced further here and the modulesconcerned in the apparatus are described below. As used hereinafter, theterm of “module” can realize the combination of software and/or hardwareof intended functions. The apparatus described in the followingembodiments is preferably realized with software; nevertheless, ahardware or combination of software and hardware can also be feasibleand has been conceived to realize same function. FIG. 2 is a structuralblock diagram of a service quality-processing device in the embodimentsaccording to the present invention. As shown in FIG. 2, this apparatuscomprises:

A selection module 20 connected to a determination module 22 which isused to select any or multiple said network nodes from the networknode(s) of attack network as a tracing start point(s), where said attacklink is a communication link between an attacked target and an attacksource;

The determination module 22, which is used to identify stepwise ahigher-level network node(s) of said attack network, according to saidtracing start point(s) until a final attack source is confirmed.

In one preferred embodiment according to the present invention, as shownin FIG. 3, said determination module 22 can also comprise the followingprocessing units:

An acquisition unit 220 connected to the first determination unit 222which is used to acquire the increment of incoming flow to said tracingstart point (s) and the increment of outgoing flow from saidhigher-level network node(s), wherein said increment of incoming flow isthe increased flow in the case that the network traffic received by saidtracing starting point(s) is abnormal compared to normal networktraffic. Said increment of outgoing flow is the increased network flowin the case that the network traffic transmitted from said higher-levelnetwork node(s) is abnormal compared to normal network traffic;

The first determination unit 222 connected to the second determinationunit 224 which is used to determine said higher-level node(s) as a newtracing start point(s) according to the ratio between said increment ofincoming flow and said increment of outgoing flow;

The second determination unit 224 used to identify stepwise ahigher-level network node(s) of said new tracing start point(s) of saidattack link according to said new tracing start point(s) until a finalattack source is confirmed.

In order to understand better the embodiments described as above, thespecific example and the related drawings are referred to for thedescription in detail. Before the technical solution of the embodimentsis described specifically below, some concepts and definitions relatedto the example will be introduced in advance here.

1. Per Package Data Average (PPDA)

It is the average size for each data packet in an acquisition periodreflecting the regular feature of data packet in one period. The formulato calculate it is as follows:

Per Package Data Average in a period (in/out)=Average bandwidth in aperiod (in/out)/Total quantity of data packets in a period (in/out) orit can be modified as follows:

Per Package Data Average in a period (in)=Average bandwidth in a period(in)/Total quantity of data packets in a period (in)

Per Package Data Average in a period (out)=Average bandwidth in a period(out)/Total quantity of data packets in a period (out)/

The abbreviation is PPDA (Per Package Data Average)

2. Fingerprint of Data Packet and Flow

Current data of port P: P0 represents current data; P-1 is the data inthe first period before current data acquisition period; P-2 is the datain the second period before current data acquisition period; FP1 is thedata forecasted for the period first next to current data acquisitionperiod; FP2 is the data forecasted for the period second next to currentdata acquisition period.

FP2 Data forecasted for the period second next to current dataacquisition period FP2=2*FP1/(P-1/P0+P0/FP1)

FP 1 Data forecasted for the period first next to current dataacquisition period FP1=2*P0/(P-2/P-1+P-1/P0)

P0 Current data

P-1 Data in the first period before current data acquisition period

P-2 Data in the second period before current data acquisition period

The historical data of the day before (it is the reference base used tobalance the fluctuation of forecasted data), where BP0 is the datayesterday at the same moment to P0 data and the rest are in same manner;

BP2 Data in the last two periods of the day before

BP1 Data in the last period of the day before

BP0 Data at the same moment of the day before

BP-1 Data in the first period before P0 of the day before

BP-2 Data in the second period before P0 of the day before

▴P=P0−P-1; ▴BP=BP0−BP-1

The flow fingerprint via port P equals to (1−▴P/▴BP)×100% within 15%(coefficient is adjustable). The flow fingerprint is based to set anon-target host as the target point and as the start point of tracingbackward.

3. Tracing-Backward Algorithm

The tracing-backward algorithm with the attacked target as the startpoint is a process and method from determining the attack direction andthe final destination port of attack before calculating and judgingupward stepwise. It comprises the incremental flow direction algorithmand the source port trunk algorithm.

4. Incremental Flow Direction Algorithm

The incremental flow direction algorithm is one to determine an abnormaltraffic via a designated port(s) and its relation with the totalabnormal flow into and out from the apparatus is based to identify thesource and destination of the incremental data flow and the specificport(s) of the apparatus. Then the port(s) of attack source can bedetermined:

▴T (target) P (Port) (out)=TP0−TP1, Increment of outgoing flow toattacked target

▴S (source) P (Port) (in)=(P0−P1) (1−n) , all ports except TP

▴A (all) P (in)=Σ (P0−P1) n (in)−▴TP (out) ; Increment of in-comingnon-attack flow via all ports except TP

▴A (all) P (out)=Σ (P0−P1) n (out) −▴TP (in) ; Increment of outgoingnon-attack flow via all ports except TP

Coefficient of normal flow fluctuation=▴AP (in)/▴AP (out) within ±20%(coefficient is adjustable)

Port SP (i) of locked source(s) may have multiple sources: ▴SP/▴TP≧20%(coefficient is adjustable)

Auxiliary determination condition: PPDA (TP)/PPDA (SP) is within ±10%(coefficient is adjustable)

5. Source Port Trunk algorithm

The source port trunk algorithm is one that: when multiple devices onsame network level attend a traffic tracing, according to the scatteringdegree of total data of attack flow in different devices which isobtained from a higher-level network, they will carry out the tracingseparately and calculating downward in a cyclical manner to identify aplurality of links. Then the unimportant traced links will be excludedthrough the port incremental algorithm to finally identify the mainattack sources.

Level-I algorithm uses the incremental flow direction algorithm todetermine the port(s) of source SP (i) and the quantity-n.

Level-II algorithm identify the uplink port of source SP (i) determinedby Level-I as TP(i) and the incremental flow direction algorithm isrepeated to identify new SP(i) and the quantity n thereof.

Level-III algorithm repeats Level-II algorithm until a final source(s)or the network boundary (network beyond monitoring by us) is identified.

6. Matching Degree of Attack Link (Degree of Anomaly)

The matching degree refers to confirming the degree of similaritybetween PPDA of attack port(s) and PPDA of source port(s). According toPPDA of data packet and flow as well as the index of PPDA fluctuation,all the identified attack paths are marked with a matching degree andprocessed step by step from high to low in terms of matching degree onsame trunk level.

Matching degree=PPDA (TP)/PPDA(SP)*Fluctuation index of PPDA

Fluctuation index of PPDA=BPPDA (SP)/PPDA (SP) or PPDA (SP)/BPPDA (SP)where the one bigger than 1 is selected

7. Stop of Tracing

The tracing in the network link of which the quantity of source port is0 will be stopped and the corresponding port(s) is marked as source. Itcan be a network inaccessible to uplink or a source arriving at downlinkuser.

Num (SP)=0

Below, the technical solution applied in this embodiment is described indetail together with the drawings. The flow diagram of thetracing-backward method in this example can refer to FIG. 4.

As shown in FIG. 5, Level-1 source(s) is identified: the target node(equivalent to tracing start point) is attacked by a data packet flow of800 k/s from C-L1, that is ▴TP=800 k. The target node here can be adevice or a set of devices (a system of similar attributes orapplications);

According to executing the incremental flow direction algorithm and thesource port trunk algorithm to the collected data at C1-L1, the sourceport (s) of attack flow into the ports of C-L1 is identified;

▴SP (C-L1-I-1) = 500k The matching degree is calculated as 99.8%. ▴SP(C-L1-II-2) = 300k The matching degree is calculated as 98.6%.

As shown in FIG. 6, Level-2 source(s) is identified: the target port(s)is positioned through the uplink ports directly connected with C-L1-I-1and C-L2-I-2 ports:

▴TP (C1-I-1)=500 k

▴TP (C2-II-2)=300 k.

According to executing the incremental flow direction algorithm and thesource port trunk algorithm to the collected data at C1, C2, the sourceport (s) of attack flow into the ports of C1 and C2 is identified:

▴SP (C1-II-1) = 300k The matching degree is calculated as 96.2%. ▴SP(C1-II-2) = 200k The matching degree is calculated as 94.8%. ▴SP(C2-II-3) = 200k The matching degree is calculated as 95.1%. ▴SP(C2-II-4) = 100k The matching degree is calculated as 93.5%.

As shown in FIG. 7, Level-3 source(s) is identified: the uplink portsconnected directly with C1-II-1, C1-II-2, C2-II-3, C2-II-4 are used asthe target ports.

▴TP (A1-II-1)=300 k

▴TP (B1-II-2)=200 k

▴TP (A1-II-3)=200 k

▴TP (B1-II-4)=100 k

According to executing the incremental flow direction algorithm and thesource port trunk algorithm to the collected data at A1, B1, the sourceport(s) of attack flow into A1 and B1 is finally identified.

▴SP (A1-III-1) = 500k The matching degree is calculated as 99.9%. ▴SP(B1-III-2) = 300k The matching degree is calculated as 99.8%.

Finally, the attack source(s) is positioned to be the access ports ofthe private network 1 and the private network 2 (that is, the finalstop, to confirm the final attack sources).

A type of software is also provided in another embodiment. This softwareis used to implement the technical solution described in the embodimentsand the preferred embodiments as above.

A type of storage medium is also provided in another embodiment whichstores said software. This storage medium includes but is not limited tooptical disc, floppy disc, hard disk, erasable memory, etc.

Obviously, those skilled in the art should understand that every moduleor every step according to the present invention as described abovecould be realized through a general-purpose computing device. Themodules or steps can be installed collectively in one single computingdevice or can be scattered in a network formed by multiple computingdevices. Or optionally, they can be realized through program codesexecutable by a computing device to achieve same function, which thuscan be stored in a storage device to be executed by a computing device.Or each of them can be made into an IC module or several modules orsteps of them can be made into a single IC module to perform samefunctions. In this way, the present intention is not limited to anyspecific combination of hardware and software.

Those described above are only the preferred embodiments according tothe present invention and shall not constitute any limit on the presentinvention. For those skilled in the art, the present invention canpossess various alternations and changes. Any alteration, equivalentreplacement, improvement, etc. within the spirit and principles of thepresent invention should be included within the scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for tracing an attack source in the caseof abnormal network traffic, which is characterized in comprising stepsof: from one or more network nodes of an attack link, selecting any ormultiple said network nodes as one or more tracing start points, wheresaid attack link is a communication link between an attacked target andan attack source; and
 2. according to one or more said tracing startpoints, identifying one or more higher-level network nodes of saidattack link stepwise until a final attack source is confirmed. Themethod according to claim 1, which is characterized in that any ormultiple said network nodes are selected as one or more tracing startpoints, which comprises steps of: acquiring the data packet payload viaone or more port of a network node in said attack link according to apreset period; and determining said tracing start point according to thedata packet payload collected currently and that collected in last saidpreset period.
 3. The method according to claim 2, which ischaracterized in that said data packet payload is the average for eachdata packet payload in said preset period.
 4. The method according toclaim 3, which is characterized in that said average for each datapacket payload in a preset period is determined through the followingformula: average for each data packet payload in a preset period=Averagebandwidth in a preset period/Total quantity of data packets in a presetperiod.
 5. The method according to claim 3, which is characterized inthat in the case of multiple said higher-level network nodes, the methodfurther comprises: discriminating the multiple higher-level networknodes according to the matching degree with said attack link, whereinsaid matching degree is used to indicate the level of similarity betweensaid average for each data packet payload via one or more tracing startpoints in a preset period and different averages for each data packetpayload via multiple said higher-level network nodes in a preset period.6. The method according to claim 2, which is characterized in that thestep determining said tracing start point according to the data packetpayload collected currently and that collected in last said presetperiod specifically comprises: determining a fingerprint of the flow viathe port(s) of said network node(s) of an attack link according to thedata packet payload collected currently and that collected in last saidpreset period, wherein said flow fingerprint is calculated with theformula as follows:Flow fingerprint=[1−(▴P/▴BP)]×100%, ▴P=P0−(P-1), ▴BP=BP0−(BP-1), whereinP0 indicates current data; (P-) indicates the data in last period ofcurrent preset period; BP0 indicates the data at same moment yesterday;(BP-1) indicates the data yesterday in the period one earlier to currentpreset period; wherein in the case that said flow fingerprint does notreach a preset threshold value, the network node corresponding to saidflow fingerprint is used as a tracing start point.
 7. The methodaccording to claim 1, which is characterized in that: the higher-levelnetwork node(s) of said attack link is identified stepwise according tosaid one or more tracing start points, which comprises: acquiring theincrement of incoming flow to said one or more tracing start points andthe increment of outgoing flow from said one or more higher-levelnetwork nodes, wherein: said increment of incoming flow is the increasedflow in the case that the network traffic received by said one or moretracing starting points is abnormal compared to normal network trafficand said increment of outgoing flow is the increased network flow in thecase that the network traffic transmitted from said one or morehigher-level network nodes is abnormal compared to normal networktraffic; determining of said one or more higher-level nodes as one ormore new tracing start points according to the ratio between saidincrement of incoming flow and said increment of outgoing flow; anddetermining stepwise of one or more higher-level network nodes of saidone or more new tracing start points of said attack link according tosaid one or more new tracing start points.
 8. The method according toclaim 1, which is characterized in that: the following method isemployed to confirm a final attack source: when the quantity of one ormore higher-level network nodes is 0, the one or more network nodes inthe next level lower to said one or more higher-level network nodes isdetermined as a final attack source.
 9. An apparatus for tracing anattack source in the case of abnormal network traffic, which ischaracterized in comprising: a selection module used to select any ormultiple said network nodes from the one or more network nodes of attacknetwork as a tracing start point(s), where said attack link is acommunication link between an attacked target and an attack source; anda determination module used to identify stepwise one or morehigher-level network node of said attack network according to said oneor more tracing start points until a final attack source is confirmed.10. The apparatus according to claim 9, which is characterized in that:said determination module comprises: an acquisition unit used to acquirethe increment of incoming flow to said one or more tracing start pointsand the increment of outgoing flow from said one or more higher-levelnetwork nodes, wherein said increment of incoming flow is the increasedflow in the case that the network traffic received by said one or moretracing starting points is abnormal compared to normal network trafficand said increment of outgoing flow is the increased network flow in thecase that the network traffic transmitted from said one or morehigher-level network nodes is abnormal compared to normal networktraffic; a first determination unit used to determine said one or morehigher-level nodes as one or more new tracing start points according tothe ratio between said increment of incoming flow and said increment ofoutgoing flow; and a second determination unit used to identify stepwiseone or more higher-level network nodes of said one or more new tracingstart points of said attack link according to said one or more newtracing start points until a final attack source is confirmed.